Signing off from RWA Dallas

Good morning from Dallas. The RWA conference went out with a bang last night with a gala awards ceremony followed by a dessert reception. No, I didn't win the RITA for Best Inspirational Romance. That went to the lovely and talented Tamara Alexander, who richly deserved it. I came into this thing knowing I wasn't going to win (my friends jumped all over me every time I said that, but as proud as I am of A Family Forever, I just never believed it was the best book in that bunch) so I was determined to enjoy being a finalist--and I certainly did that. Being a RITA finalist is a huge honor, and I'll never forget (and I'll never let anybody else forget!) that I was accorded that honor for a book that will always be very dear to my heart.

This has been my best conference ever, and also the busiest. I'm sorry I wasn't able to blog more, but friends, I came here to experience the conference, not sit in my hotel room and blog about it. I'm glad my hunk o' burnin' love has been here since Friday afternoon because now he knows more about what goes on here and why it's so important to my writing. In addition to gleaning information about the workings of this business and picking up some writing tips and loads of encouragement, the networking with other authors and editors is just invaluable to me. Every time I have coffee with a writer I admire or meet with my editors, I learn something I can use when I go back home to write.

As of this morning, I'm on vacation. Except for Tuesday, when we'll travel to Killeen and Ft. Hood to do some research, my husband and I will spend this entire week visiting family here in Texas. I don't know what kind of internet access I'll have, so expect this week's blog entries to be few and far between. I'll be back at my own desk sometime next Monday.

Have a great week, everyone. And thanks for reading No rules. Just write.